Piping



Wi: .J

Maassen. Zeven/Z024' uymm. @wf/#4MM N. PETERSV PfmwLmlogrzplwr. Wanhinghm DA C.

l MATTHEW n. MERRIAM, or LEXINGTON,` MASSACHUSETTS.

PIPI'NG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,965, dated January 23, 1883.

Application filed November 20,-1882. (No model.) i

To allv whom it may concern Be it known that I, MATTHEW H. MEERTAM,

i of Lexington, county of Middlesex, State ot' Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Piping, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

My invention relates to leather piping or edging, and has for its object to produce a piping which cau be used equally well in straight and curved work.

When an ordinary piece of piping consisting of a strip ot' leather folded lengthwise and having its unfinished edge inserted between two layers of leather is to be'bent to enable an article havingcurvedorsquare edges to be finished by a piece cf piping having a rounded edge, the rough or unfinished edge of' the piping laid between the two pieces of leather or fabric the edges of which are to be finished is thrown into plaits as the piping` is bent, andthe unfinished plaited edge has to be skived in order to remove the vprojecting plaits and bring it to the proper thickness to enable it to be laid evenly between the two layers of' material for which the rounded part of' the piping is to form the finish. \Vhen the rounded edge of the piping has to follow .t he concaved edges of' a piece of leather or fabric the unfinished edge of the piping has to be cut in order to permit the piping to be bent to conform to such a curve.

Piping as heretofore made has had its unfinished edge toothed or serrated by removing from it a series of triangular pieces, thus enabling it to be bent about either convexed or concaved curves without diiiiculty; but such piping is open to the objection that along the 'straight portions-which are by far the larger part of its klength when in use-the removal of the triangular pieces fails to afford the proper support for the material above and below the piping, and when ordinary piping without the serration is employed it has to be cut-by hand at the curved portions, thus requiring a very considerable expenditure of time 011 the part of the operator and loss of work of the sewing-machine which stitches the piping in place. I have been enabled to obviate these difficulties, and to produce a pipingI having the advantages of the ordinary unuotched piping along the straight portions of material to be finished by"L the piping, and which may be curved without difficulty in either-direction. I accomplish this desired object by slitting the piping from its unfinished edge at right angles to its length, and at short intervals throughout its length, the said slits merely separating the material of the piping, without removing any portion thereof, and making, as it were, a series of adjacent tongues along the unfinished edge of the piping, or that edge which is to be concealed between the material to be piped. These tongues, when inclosed between layers ot' leather or fabricbein g piped and having straight edges, will abut together, and the unfinished edge will form a continuous unform support for the layers of material at each side and for the reception of the stitches, and nodiiierence is observable in the effect from that produced by ordinary uncut piping. When the piping is being applied to material having convexed edges the tinishedredge of' the piping is given a convexed curvature, and the v said tongues are caused to slightly overlap one another, thus preventing plaiting or` fullingof the edge or objectionable thickening. In being applied to edges having concaved curvature the said tongues permit perfect freedom of' curvature, and more nearly lill the space than do the triangular tooth-like portions ot ordinary serrated piping.

The drawing represents a piece of piping embodying this invention, a portion ofthe piping being straight and other portions being concaved and convexed.

The piping c is made, in thei'usual manner, of a strip of leather or other suitable material folded lengthwise to produce a finished edge, a', and leave a rough or unfinished edge, b, to be included between two or more layers ot' fabric or leather, with the said finished portion a projecting and forming the edge ofthe IOO ing any objectionable plaiting or falling of either edge ofthe said piping, as would be the case if the said unfinished edge were left intact. In passing around a conveXed corner or curve the said tongues are slightly overlapped, as shown at 4, and in passing around a point of conoaved curvature they open out or separate, as shown at 6, While in the straight or slightly Curved portions the piping lies between the layers of fabric, with substantially the same eft'eot as if not out at all.

I claim- The piping composed of `a strip of material folded longitudinally to produce a finished and unfinished edge and provided with a series of x5 to this specification in the presence of two zo subscribing witnesses.

MATTHEW H. MERRIAM.

Titnessesz J os. P. LIVERMORE, B. J. NoYEs. 

